The Walking Dead – S4 E8 “Too Far Gone” Recap and Review

What a rush! In an all out showdown of an episode Lizzie gets gangsta, Daryl uses zombie body shields, Miguel Alvarez finally gets shanked, the prison is overrun with zombies, Hershel loses his head, and the Governor gets a hole in his. The long awaited Governor story arch has finally concluded and did not disappoint – I’m still smiling.

We started with the Governor giving a rallying speech to his new crew. At the same time we are shown him ambushing and kidnapping Michonne and Hershel which seemed a little too easy. Granted, I have never been bludgeoned in the face with the butt of a handgun so I don’t know what kind of affect it would have, but I would think it would break a nose or shock you at most, not deliver a Mike Tyson like KO – Michonne dropped faster than a dress on prom night. She barely even have a bruise to show for it. Anyway, back to the episode. G-man has convinced everyone that they can take the prison peacefully, but must be willingly to get violent if need be. His pseudo wife, Lily, isn’t convinced and nags him. You really get the sense that the writers hate their wives. Every wife-type character (See Lori in the first 3 seasons, or Andrea with the Governor) is just an irritating nag. If it’s not nagging about taking out the garbage or mowing the lawn, it’s nagging about not orchestrating a violent takeover of a prison sanctuary during the zombie apocalypse.

Back at the prison we see several characters recovering from the super flu. Bob and Sasha look to have formed a strong bond, Glenn is no longer coughing up blood and Rick tells Daryl about sending Carol on her way to start her own Corleone family. Okay, I made that last part up. Daryl is pissed, and then he’s not, and they both go scurry off to tell Tyrese about Carol’s murders. They find Tyrese who has found dead rats. Before the rat mystery can be solved the prison is rocked by an explosion which seems like a pretty convenient way to completely disregard the rat story;

Writer 1: “What do you want to do about the rat story”.

Writer 2: “I dunno. I actually had no direction or purpose for that. I was kinda high when I came up with it”.

Writer 1: “Okay, let’s just ignore it by interrupting the explanation with the final climactic fight seen. No one will remember that way”.

Writer 2: “Done and done! Let’s smoke up!”

The Governor and his militia are at the prison gates ready to rumble. Rick looks at Daryl, they give each other a knowing nod, as if to say you’re sexy let’s eff this guy up. Rick walks out all alone to negotiate and buy time for the rest of the prison group to gear up and reiterate their escape plan, which essentially is “get to the bus”. Really? That’s all they got? Couldn’t they at least have something more impressive like “get to da choppaaaaaaaahh”!

The Governor tells Rick that he and his people must leave the prison. As motivation, he brings out Hershel and Michonne bound up. In the midst of this incredible stand-off, we switch back to Lily and Meghan chilling by the river back at the Governor’s base camp. For plot convenience, Lily is 200-300 metres away from Meghan as she digs up a walker who chomps down on her neck. Poor Meghan, we barely knew you.

At the prison fence, Rick firmly tells the Governor that they are not leaving. Infuriated, The Governor grabs Michonne’s sword and holds it at Hershel’s neck and warns Rick one more time. Rick pleads for there to be a truce, that there is room in the prison for everyone and that no one has to die but there is no negotiating with the Governor – he hacks at Hershel’s neck with the sword, half decapitating him.

The carnage begins.

Both sides begin firing. Through all that Lily shows up with Meghan’s body who the Governor promptly caps in the head to prevent her from turning. He then finds a still alive Hershel and then completely decapitates him Mortal Kombat style.

The gun fight gets more intense as Miguel Alvarez ploughs through the prison fences with the tank. Daryl enters the Konami invincibility code (Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start) and ploughs through several bad guys before using a walker as a shield as he takes out Extras #5 and 18 with a grenade. Single handed, he then takes out the tank and then finishes off Miguel Alvarez with an arrow to the heart. That’s how Scud rolls, you shoulda stayed in Oz sucka!

Tyrese/Junk Yard Dog is unable to administer his trademark “Thump” slam and gets pinned down by Alisha and Extra #13 only to be saved by…Lizzie! She shoots Extra #13 and before Alisha can react to the fact that a little girl is the gunperson, she caps Alisha square in the head execution style. Damn gansta! That’s what you get for hooking up in the zombie apocalypse, even if it was with Tara for some girl on girl action.

Through all the mess, Glenn along with most of the sick and young make it to the bus. Beth heads back for Judith.

The Governor and Rick meet in the field for the epic of all boss battles. The Superman versus Doomsday -esque battle goes back and forth with both men going all Jack on Angel on each other – I suppose they both felt like destroying something beautiful. The Governor gets the upper hand and is about to finish off Rick when Michonne shows up to impale him with her sword. They leave the Governor in the field where Lily finds him and finishes him off with a bullet to the head. A fitting end for the most evil of antagonists in the series thus far.

Rick find’s Carl and both find a Judith’s bloody baby basket. Assuming her dead they flee the prison as well. The last shot we see of the prison is one of the walkers overrunning it, bringing an end to the first half of Season 4.

Episode 8 rating: 5 Decapitated Hershel heads out of 5

Episode 8 took a little time to get going but when it did it pulled no punches. Both the Governor and Hershel were given landmark deaths befitting of their characters and the prison itself went down in a blaze of glory. The group is now separated and scattered and it will be interesting to see where they end up and the new characters they meet (Ahem, Abraham). As a whole, the first part of Season 4 felt more of a conclusion to Season 3 which I personally didn’t mind at all. The extra time taken allowed for deeper character development and connection. In years to come once the show concludes its run, we may very well look back at these past eight episodes as the height of the series. If I had to pick a low point, it would be the lack of development for Maggie and Glenn. Let’s hope that changes moving forward. The second half of Season 4 premieres on February 9, see you then!

About Contributor

Proudly promoted by ēgō magazine; we provide the opportunity for contributing authors, writers and photographers to share their knowledge and interests with our viewers. Please contact us if you wish to post any of your creative work on our site.

SHOUT-OUT’S.

ADVERTISEMENT.

Archives

Archives

Who We Are

ēgō® magazine is a Canadian independently owned premier on-line magazine for the modern man. Since 2011 we have been providing our growing readership with insightful content that ranges in various topics for the modern gentleman. We believe that the ego should never be coined as a negative or narcissistic characteristic or quality. In order to grow and be better people then we need to positively feed the ego.